Tuesday, February 5, 2013

I've been spammed!

Well kids, it looks like the joke is on me.

After (nearly) four years, I finally learned a very valuable blogging lesson: USE THE FUCKING CAPTCHA!

I prided myself on being a captcha-free blog. After all, I can barely read the stupid letters myself, so why make my readers do the same? It's annoying as shit. And I can't even count how many times I've come across other bloggers bitching about it too.

I figured my blog was too obscure to attract spammers.

Well, it was...until December.

Since December, I have gotten more than 10,000 comments. All spam. And since I've been so busy, I didn't even notice what had happened until two days ago.

I've tried deleting as many as possible. But let's face it, unless I quit my job, there's no way I'm ever going to have time to get rid of every single comment a computer generated. We're talking hundreds of comments per post. I have a life.

What's even creepier is that the spammers are getting more creative. There were actually spam comments pretending to be my blog friends, by leaving their name and the name of their blog. When I approached each blogger, to see if the weird comment was really theirs, it wasn't. And they were horrified. It makes me wonder how many of you have gotten spam comments from me.

(For the record, I will never ask you to "buy Viagra for a low price by clicking the link.") A high price, maybe. JUST KIDDING. Do not click the link! Tell me immediately!

Spammers are going to eat us.

That's my lesson this year.

My blog is not feeling very fabulous right now.
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24 comments:

  1. Ekey84February 5, 2013 at 2:43 PM

    What?! I have been buy Viagra in bulk based on your recommendations! I am going to have some CAnadian suppliers that are going to be PISSED!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jaime @ laviejaimeFebruary 5, 2013 at 2:53 PM

    ugh it's SO annying. I get a ton of spam comments but they go into spam so dont get published...still annoying!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. SherinFebruary 5, 2013 at 2:55 PM

    Blogger's spam filter has been broken for ages. I'm getting 100's of spam a day. I don't have the time or effort to delete them, so might have to follow in your footsteps!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Venus Loves VirgoFebruary 5, 2013 at 3:33 PM

    I hate spam and captcha. I feel your pain. XOXO

    ReplyDelete
  5. ChristopherFebruary 5, 2013 at 3:52 PM

    I get spam every once in a while but only on one post about the civil war. It is odd.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh to Be a MuseFebruary 5, 2013 at 5:35 PM

    I feel your pain. I've been getting a ton of spam comments recently too (although not 10,000). I really don't like Capchas so I'm going to continue deleting the spam comments. Fortunately, blogger is doing a good job at directing them immediately to my spam folder and not publishing them. But I would probably put on the capcha if it got really bad like your situation.

    p.s. - want to buy some viagra? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. shereneFebruary 5, 2013 at 6:38 PM

    Bad bad bad:(

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnksFebruary 5, 2013 at 11:03 PM

    uh - oh... well a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!

    ReplyDelete
  9. A Brit GreekFebruary 6, 2013 at 1:07 AM

    I totally sympathize... that has been happening to me too and is painfully annoying. I suppose some of the comments are unpublishd til ones approval, but yeah Captcha works even though it is annoying!
    x.o.x.o

    ReplyDelete
  10. imfashionstonedFebruary 6, 2013 at 3:20 AM

    omg that is awefull! Oh well it is not the end of the world;)

    ReplyDelete
  11. UnknownFebruary 6, 2013 at 3:48 AM

    I think spammers are increasingly targeting pretty much every blog that they stumble upon these days. All they have to do is run their script and a few more people see their ad's so that is all that matters...

    I have found wordpress to be a lot better than blogger with its spam controls but obviously moving platform sucks!

    I'm not too fussed about the CAPTCHA being added because i use this special software called RUMOLA that reads and fill in those incomprehensible letters for me! I see you mentioned you also have problems with CAPTCHA so maybe you should try it at skipinput.com!

    Do you have the option on blogger to use other CAPTCHAs? If so maybe try a mint eye or a play thru CAPTCHA, much easier on the eye!

    ReplyDelete
  12. UnknownFebruary 6, 2013 at 4:02 AM

    I recognise I hate the catcha...but I also get some spam comments, not like you of course but is only about deleting them o leaving them on the spam folder...
    Ps of couse I would get viagra if you tell me to do it Jenny you are my godess ;)

    ReplyDelete
  13. The Dainty Dolls HouseFebruary 6, 2013 at 4:20 AM

    It is annoying, all my spam seems to go in the spam folder, although, I have had recently one get through to normal comments, but that's why I have it to ok every comment, because I don't like word verification & think these asses are getting smarter for that. It's a waste of time really! Hope it gets better x

    ReplyDelete
  14. Couture CarrieFebruary 6, 2013 at 5:57 AM

    What a bummer, darling...
    Captcha it is!

    xoxox,
    CC

    ReplyDelete
  15. -E-February 6, 2013 at 7:13 AM

    No captcha, just moderate your comments. Only takes a second (granted, you get more comments than me). Also, you should have your comments on the same page as your blog entry so people can refer to it.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Kivimäen JenniFebruary 6, 2013 at 7:17 AM

    Oh, damn! I only have been getting a couple of spam messages but then I only have a couple of dozen readers at my blog daily. We'll try to manage with the capcha although it is so irritating.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Cafe FashionistaFebruary 6, 2013 at 7:31 AM

    And this is why I keep 'Comment Approval' in place...too much SPAM. Sometimes I go out for the day and come home to 300 SPAM comments. Such. A. Pain.

    P.S. I love you for your comment yesterday! Most people think that all of my makeup knowledge is useless. Of course, they are always the ones who show up asking for advice when they have a date, so...touche! :P

    ReplyDelete
  18. ShybikerFebruary 6, 2013 at 8:52 AM

    Sad. I haven't faced this problem yet, so remain captcha-free, but that would change with your situation. Sorry to hear.

    ReplyDelete
  19. NatalieFebruary 6, 2013 at 10:21 AM

    Oh no! I also don't have word vertification! Perhaps I should change it! Damn I hate computers sometimes!

    www.trendinginfashion.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  20. ravenlocksFebruary 6, 2013 at 12:40 PM

    Jen, for you I will proudly type in those numbers and nonexistent captcha words! LOL! Seriously... what does "dswastra 37" even mean?

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  21. A Very Sweet BlogFebruary 6, 2013 at 2:00 PM

    Last year, I really tried not using Captcha (because I hate it) but like you Jennifer I was getting so many comments on my posts (even past ones) that it was becoming unbearable. It's horrible what they do! My comment count when down when I added it, but I don't care. LOL Some of that stuff doesn't just go to the Spam box where you can simply delete it. You would have to go to past posts and delete. I have enough to do! HAHAHA

    ReplyDelete
  22. RheaFebruary 6, 2013 at 7:54 PM

    Totally understand. Try to have the option of the comments showing u only after moderation. So the spam comments won't get published and you can publish a genuine comment. No need of captcha!
    Xx
    Rhea
    http://fuss.co.in

    ReplyDelete
  23. Elle - The Violet ReactionFebruary 6, 2013 at 9:34 PM

    I've been having this problem, too... thankfully most of them go straight to the spam folder but for some reason about 10% or so do sneak into the regular ones and I have to filter them out. Crazy annoying.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Arielle-HumblePieVintageFebruary 12, 2013 at 8:47 PM

    Geez! I hope that my account isn't leaving spam comments on people's blogs :X

    ReplyDelete